this is fox 5 news at 10:00. bad budget. >> create new jobs. >> it is a choice between two different visions. >> this nation is going to begin to change for the better. >> it's election eve, president obama and mitt romney on the swing state blitz fighting for votes in a race that is too close to call.

>> wisconsin, tomorrow you have a choice to make. >> tomorrow we begin a new tomorrow. >> you will choose who will spend the next four years in the white house. tonight everything you need to know before you cast your vote. thanks for joining us tonight. i'm shawn yancy. >> i'm brian bolter. it all comes down to this, the final push for your vote. the polls open in a matter of hours. the presidential candidates are not wasting any time. >> fox 5 has complete election day coverage of 2012. >> this final night on the trail is telling us exactly where these campaigns see this fight playing out, virginia, ohio, wisconsin dominating the travel schedule today and with the president and mitt romney both visiting the same city just hours apart from each other. in fairfax county, virginia tonight governor mitt romney zeroed in on virginia spending the last few hours of his 2012 presidential campaign trying to lock down votes in the

commonwealth. >> the economy shrinks, people lose jobs. the president was right when he said that he can't change washington from the inside, only from the outside. we're going to give him that chance in a day or two here. >> in columbus, ohio, meanwhile president obamreturned fire with his own blistering review of romney's campaign and his political policies. >> another $5 trillion tax cut favoring the wealthy, not change, refusing to answer questions about the details of your policy until after the election, that's definitely not change. that's an old trick. >> back in our area in sterling, virginia, meanwhile vice president joe biden delivered his own attack on his rivals to northern virginia voters, many who will be key to carrying the state. >> ladies and gentlemen, there is no quit in america nd there never has been. [ cheering and applause ] >> folks, i got news for romney

and ryan. gentlemen, it's never ever ever been a good bet to bet against the american people. never. [ cheering and applause ] >> reporter: meanwhile republican vice presidential candidate paul ryan heading to johnstown, colorado, pleaing with voters to not only get to the polls themselves to bring others as well. >> get your family to the polls, your friends and neighbors. talk to those people who thought hope and change sounded good, but now they just see attack and revenge. >> reporter: less than nine hours now till polls begin to open and you decide who will occupy the white house for the next four years. joining us now fox 5 political analyst mark plotkin. you saw that criss-cross that went on on this campaign today. what does this tell us about where these campaigns see trouble and opportunity? >> well, the president is going to close in iowa. that's where he got his political start winning that

iowa caucus four years ago. it's a sentimental trip for him and quite poignant, but it's also very important because that's part of the midwestern firewall that he wants to win, ohio, wisconsin and even those s votes from iowa. in terms of mitt romney, he's even campaigning tomorrow, tom, which is really considered unprecedented. >> let's talk about this. mitt romney goes to ohio tomorrow. everybody says if mitt romney can't win ohio, he can't win the white house. do presidential candidates normally campaign on election day? >> no, they really don't and he's pulling out all the stops. this is his second and if he doesn't win last time running for president. he's also going to pittsburgh tomorrow because some think that's a fake. they think, the republicans, do that pennsylvania is a possibility and they're trying to pick up votes wherever they

can. >> you know, mitt romney saw his numbers rise throughout october and then to the end of the month they took a dive, mark. what happened to the romney momentum? >> well, haley barbour and even karl rove have said that sandy, the hurricane, provided a boost for the president. you know, he suspended campaigning for three or four days. he did the right things. he got overwhelming approval for the way in which he cubbed himself. conducted himself, the embrace from chris christie. all that helped him look more presidential and gave him an aura of leadership and that i tragedy in a way was the october surprise. >> at -- and i think that tragedy in a way was the october surprise. >> we saw them stumble badly after that first debate is. that a cautionary tale heading into tomorrow that maybe their support is not as deep and wide

as they thought it was? >> you have to realize they've been running an ongoing campaign. they call it organizing for america which was the successor organization to the 2008 campaign. they feel their ground game, their field operation of the concentration on metrics and turning out people will be enough coupled with early voting. >> fox 5 political analyst mark plotkin. ryan and mitt romney will wrap things up in new england and new hampshire tomorrow, president obama in chicago. he owns one of the safest seats in congress, t two weeks ago virginia congressman jim moran's campaign took major hit. his son patrick moran was caught on tape discussing a plan to cast fraudulent votes with an activist posing as campaign worker. patrick was forced to resign from his father's campaign and for the first time since the incident broke the morans agreed to sit down with us here on fox 5. thank you both.

congressman, this is perhaps one of the worst instances that could happen i think when you mix politics and family. your name has been dragged through the political mud here a bit and i wonder if perhaps most importantly you got to be disappointed aa father. >> well, it's heartbreaking because i'm afraid that some of patrick's idealism is going to be replaced with a bitter taste, but the fact is he made a mistake. he said stupid things. he's been held accountable by me and by the campaign and by everyone else and, you know, these are lessons in life that have to be learned and sometimes the most important lessons are the hardest ones to experience. i know in my life i've made an awful lot of mistakes and what really matters is how you react to that mistake, werth you learn from it and make sure -- whether you learn from it and make sure that it's never repeated. >> patrick, what were you

thinking? we've heard the official answer that you were humoring this guy. >> yeah. >> but this thing went on upwards of a half hour and i don't think a lot of people were buying it you were just humoring him. what were you doing? >> outright stupidity, a lack of appreciation for the situation he was saying. this is a business in which you appreciate energy and it was trying to corral that energy, but completely lacking the ability to hear what he was saying and the magnitude of it. i didn't take it seriously and i wished that i had. i didn't think about it. after that beyond just kind of being taken back by how strange this individual seemed, but it's an extreme immense sense of guilt that i've had, not only for the negative flowback that's come on my father, the campaign, the democratic party in general but for the way that i fell like i've been misrepresented. . >> let's take a look. >> nobody's fault except myself. >> okay. let's take a look at this

segment and at least a portion of that tape in question. >> you have to get a utility bill -- >> this is what we're dealing with right now. >> you know, just a portion, 15 seconds, as i said. this tape went onwards of half an hour. just want to make sure we get you on record. you still believe that you were humoring this person, not taking him seriously and your position is that you were not encouraging him and instructing him on how to cast fraudulent votes. >> that was not my intention. you know, i was listening to him, but i was not appreciating, like i said, the magnitude of what he was saying, the consequences that that would have and his actions would have, you know. in hindsight and looking at it and really digesting what he was saying and what he intended, i just -- i'm angry with myself for not immediately taking that to the police, but the reality is i did not see it

for what it was and for that there's nobody at fault except for myself. >> do you have a future in politics do you think after this? >> i think that there's a lot of growing that i have to do and a lot of growing that's been induced by the situation and continue to learn that lesson and i look forward to growing, growing from it and definitely a bit of cynicism is definitely taking its hold. >> congressman, you chalk it up to youth, overexuberance? what do you chalk it up to? >> you know, he made a mistake and i just trust that he's going to learn from that mistake, that he's going to know that you've got to take this seriously. politics is a very serious business and when you see that the potential of wrongdoing, you got to report it. this is a tough business. i wish it wasn't. you know, there wasn't so much mean spirited and got ya

mentality involved in politics because this is an idealistic kid, a young man and, you know, he was working 16 hours a day for me. he'd get up at 6:00. he'd be in the office by 7:00. he wouldn't quit till 11:00 and it's seven days a week because he really believed in the democratic process. he supported me and what i stand for and it's just heartbreaking that this happened, but the fact is it did. he's got to be held responsible for it. he's accountable. he understands how stupid what he said was. obviously i know he wouldn't have done anything, but the fact is he should have taken it more seriously. he should have reported it and he didn't and he's bearing the consequences, but i still love him and i'm proud of him and i'm always going to be and i'm happy to be associated with him. these are lessons in life you have to learn and you have to move forward. >> we said it off the top, one of the safest seats in congress and i think as an outsider looking at it both people on both sides of the aisle know that you're still one of the

most passionate honest representatives in our community. we appreciate it. >> the moment i think it's a safe seat is when i'll lose it. i never say it as a safe seat. i work -- take it as a safe seat. i work for it and i'm very fortunate to represent the people that i, do brian. >> thank you both for coming in tonight. appreciate it. our election coverage continues. next how local polling places are preparing for tomorrow's voting crowds. >> and here we go again as the northeast slowly recovers from sandy, tonight another threat is following in the superstorm's path. >> a little later a fox 5 investigation, the d.c. fire department and ems department facing a critical shortage of paramedics and some say things are only going to get worse. we'll tell you why and what this could mean for you next.  [ mitt romney ] we have to work on a collaborative basis.

look, the reason i'm in this race is there are people that are really hurting today in this country. and we face this deficit -- could crush the future generations. and republicans and democrats both love america but we need to have leadership -- leadership in washington that will actually bring people together and get the job done and could not care less if it's a republican or a democrat. i've done it before, i'll do it again. i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message.

colin powell: yes. when he took over we were in one of the... i'm mitt romney, worst recessions we had seen in recent times... close to a depression. and i saw, over the next several years, stabilization... come back in the financial community. housing is starting to pick up. the president saved the auto industry. and the actions he's taken with respect to... protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. and so, i think we ought to keep on the track that we are on. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. a week all of hurricane sandy slammed ashore, there's new concern for people in the northeast. another storm is brewing and could slow recovery efforts and make people's lives even more uncomfortable than they are now. sue palka is following this

nor'easter. >> it's just getting started and smog up on the radar map across alabama into georgia. that storm will slip off the coast tomorrow and begin traveling up the east coast. it will take until wednesday or wednesday night until it gets strong enough, but we do believe it will impact the folks that were already just really devastated by sandy in new jersey and new york city and it's so very cold up there, too and they continue without power. so for people caught in sandy's path the recovery continues to be slow and painstaking, but some progress is being made. >> reporter: parts of northeast are trying to return back to normal a week after superstorm sandy struck the region. thousands of students are returning to school and much of the mass transit system is back online, but the trains connecting new york to new jersey are still down creating a logjam of early morning commute traffic. some traffic was folks waiting in line for gas. >> i told my boss can i take my lunch and go find some gas? she said no problem. >> reporter: fuel is making it into new york harbor and making

it into service stations across the region, but there are still long lines to get gas. many folks are still in the dark a week after sandy struck. close to a million homes and businesses are still without power in new jersey, the streets of staten island lined with piles of garbage, all this as the nation prepares for the presidential election tuesday. many wonder how the aftermath of sandy will affect vote turnout in the region. >> maybe it will be better off if they put it off for like another week or so and i could totally understand that. yeah, i think it would be best because a lot of people can't get out now, you know, and a lot of centers you can't vote there because they're either being used as an evacuation center or you just can't get in. >> reporter: meanwhile mother nature is doing the northeast no favors. forecasters warn a nor'easter is on the horizon. it could bring with it heavy rains, winds and more flooding. in brooklyn, new york, david lee miller, fox news. >> more on that storm. it will not affect new york

tomorrow, but it will begin wednesday. we've got some graphics prepared for you. this may impact us. it is certainly going to be chilly here, a decent day tomorrow, but cooler than average. that storm will begin moving up the coast tomorrow night and we still think there's a little play in this track probly along the coast. today the model jumped it a little farther east by about 100 or 150 miles. on that track we would not get much rain here. if it's closer to the coast, we may get a mix of rain and snow, folks, wednesday night, but i'm not sure we'll get precip depending on the track. we do know, though, unfortunately along the coast in the red zone including the delmarva, including the delaware bay, new jersey and up to new england 40 to 60 mile- per-hour gusts are possible, certainly very big waves, beach erosion, coastal flooding and water in general running 2 to 4 feet above high tide. so that's not like sandy, brian, but it's not what they want to see when so many of those protective dunes were

wiped away one week ago to not. hundreds of thousands of voters are expected to turn out for election day in virginia. the battleground state is also home to a hotly contested senate race. what you need to know before you head to the polls, fox 5's lauren demarco spoke with director of the public affairs department for fairfax county. >> reporter: the number of registered voters in virginia is up more than 72,000 from the last presidential election, nearly 10% have already completed an in-person or mail- in absentee ballot, but that leaves more than sick hundred 50,000 people expected -- 650,000 people expected to hit the polls in the commonwealth. >> people need to be prepared. a lot of people tend to vote before or after work. that means it will be very busy at the beginning and end of the day. everybody should be patient. if it's very, very cold, you might be outside waiting in line. so feel free to bring a chair to sit on or whatever and bundle up. >> reporter: the polls in virginia will be open from 6

a.m. to 7 p.m. at each of the 237 precincts. >> if you are in line at 7 p.m., you will be able to vote. if you show up after 7 p.m., that's too late. >> reporter: voters should have received a voter registration card in the mail. you'll need to show that or another form of identification like a driver's license, student id or current utility bill and to keep things moving it's important to have your mind made up before heading to the ballot. along with the presidential election, senate and congressional races there are two constitutional amendments in virginia and fairfax county alone has four bond referendums. >> if you're wondering what are they about? which position should i take? there's information online on both the state board of elections website on the fairfax county website so that people can become informed voters. >> reporter: you can verify your polling place online which is important because there's been redistricting since the last presidential election and your location may have changed. if you download the fairfax county app, you can even get

gps driving directions. we'll post all that information on www.myfoxdc.com. in the newsroom lauren demarco, fox 5 news. d.c. elections officials say about 52,000 residents voted early for this year's election. that's more than 10% of the district's registered voters, more than double the number of early voters in theseptember, 2010 primary. early voters at some locations reported waits of more than two hours. a bitter battle brewing over d.c.'s speed camera fines. at issue, how much cash would it take to slow you down, why some say the mayor's plan doesn't go far enough. charlie rose: will you endorse prpresident obama?

colin powell: yes. when he took over we were in one of the... worst recessions we had seen in recent times... close to a depression. and i saw, over the next several years, stabilization... come back in the financial community. housing is starting to pick up. the president saved the auto industry. and the actions he's taken with respect to... protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. and so, i think we ought to keep on the track that we are on. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

look, the reason i'm in this race is there are people that are really hurting today in this country. and we face this deficit -- could crush the future generations. and republicans and democrats both love america but we need to have leadership -- leadership in washington that will actually bring people together and get the job done and could not care less if it's a republican or a democrat. i've done it before, i'll do it again. i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message. d.c. drivers caught speeding will pay a lower fine. that policy change went into effect today. any driver going 10 miles over the speed limit pays 50 bucks, faster you pay 100 bucks. d.c. mayor vincent gray instituted the changes just as the council was preparing to introduce legislation to lower the fines even more.

gray and police chief cathy lanier say if fines are too low, drivers won't have an incentive to slow down. experts, at least some, disagree. >> there is no link between abusive fees and modifying behavior. >> mayor gray says any surplus from the speed cameras will be used to hire 100 more police officers. that pledge has put council members in a tough position. they believe fines should be lowered. d.c.'s fire and ems department is facing a paramedic shortage. one paramedic on the front lines believes the system is about to crash. find out why and what this could mean for you tonight in a fox 5 investigation. man: to some people, social security is s just a number.

but to me, it's money that i earned. i count on social security. and i don't want washington politicians like george allen... privatizing it. if george allen wants to risk his own money on wall street... that's fine. but i don't want him risking mine. george allen just isn't watching out for us. anncr: the democratic senatorial campaign committee is... responsible for the content of this advertising.

what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. we're just hours away from the polls opening up across the country. president obama is wrapping up his campaigning tonight, but mitt romney is making last minute plans to make campaign stops in ohio and pennsylvania tomorrow. fox news anchor shepard smith

joins us tonight. what do you think this means? the president wrapping up tonight heading home to chicago, mitt romney making that last minute push in ohio and pennsylvania? ? >> reporter: well, pennsylvania, there were a lot of different thoughts around the beltway and outside of it about what this pennsylvania thing meant. was it a head fake to try to get the obama camp to spend more time there? it certainly got bill clinton there for four stops including two in philly today. tonight on another network stephanie cutter, the deputy campaign manager for the president admitted pennsylvania has tightened up. the latest polls show it's neck and neck. if governor romney were to be able to take pennsylvania, it's going to be a very long night for the president. >> we've seen this getting tighter and also seen a lot of early voting this year. how do you think this will play into that final vote? >> democrats will tell you and the numbers point out that over time dems have done much better

-- democrats have done much better in early voting where the republicans have had advantage in absentee voting, but this year out in ohio, for instance, they've shown us early voting numbers are not as far part as they were before. in other words, the republican disadvantage isn't as large as they saw in 2008. they see that as a good sign going in tomorrow in ohio and mitt romney's camp hopes that in ohio they can bust up what is part of president obama's midwest firewall and if they can do that, their paths to the white house are much more numerous. >> i don't know if you're a betting man or not. tomorrow we could see a lot of different scenarios how this goes down. one could win the popular vote, the other the electoral. if you had to bet on this ending tomorrow night or continuing on for a few days, where do you think things stand? >> reporter: i like to bet by quarters, shawn. if i could get a second quarter vote in, it would come right after northern virginia and if mitt romney has done very well in northern virginia, i'd bet

that it's going to be a longer night. if he doesn't, i think northern virginia is a big tell for us. if the president wins in northern virginia in a big way, that may be sign of things to come as well. >> all eyes on northern virginia. real quick, about 20 seconds, there's also an old wives tale if the redskins, however they, you know, win or lose, the week before the election is how the presidency goes. we know the redskins lost. should we read anything into that one? >> you know, on the surface i say no, but you lost to the carolina panthers, so it's tough, shawn. that's tough. tough. >> that, in fact, we did. shepard smith, great to talk to you. thank you. >> reporter: you, too. we've been covering all angles of the election on www.myfoxdc.com. will thomas down in the web center with more. >> it could not be easier. our web producers have done a great job as always. here's the web page. click on the web bar election coverage. i'll do that here.

it takes you to the page they've created. the first thing i want to point out in my few seconds here is pollproblems@wttg.com. as you vote tomorrow and you're looking at signs if you see a story you uld cover that pertains to polling sites, to potential issues, let us know. send us an e-mail. we'll check it out. here's something else on our election page, d.c., maryland and virginia voter services, all the questions you may have. they even have links and this is as important as it gets, fine your polling place. you click -- find your polling place. you click on find your polling place. i'll do it for d.c., put in our studio address as if it was our home, pick the quadrant, northwest, hit search and there is my voting location, wesley methodist church. going back to our election page you'll see we have some twitter feeds going on, hashtag mitt romney, hashtag barack obama. it won't stay on that long. we can't -- i won't stay on that long.

we can't control the content of that, after all. we have important election key dates and all our coverage is here as well. we've got a graphic, kind of a rundown of what else you may see. it begins with our twitter handle. we want you to sort of be part of this and tomorrow i'm going to be reporting live from the web center here and i'm going to share some of your tweets about the election, about your process, some of the key issues. that hashtag is fox 5 d.c. you decide. we'll be streaming all our live election coverage. we'll have a results page that will be updating and we want to invite you to download our app. just go to our website www.myfoxdc.com. brian, back to you. now to a fox 5 investigation, d.c.'s emergency medical system is in crisis. paramedics are leaving the district's fire and ems department at a high rate. the department now faces a critical shortage putting lives in the hands of paramedics who are tired and overworked. fox 5's sherri ly investigating the district's paramedic

emergency. >> most of d.c.'s fire and ems paramedics do double duty as firefighters, too. with manpower short they're working longer hours and handling more life threatening medical emergencies and now it's taking a toll. d.c.'s population growing larger. >> d.c. emergency 911. >> reporter: the number of calls for d.c. ambulances is on the rise with more than 90,000 transports to the hospital last year. >> there's such a high demand run volume in this city we're at the top of the run survey every year nationwide. >> but the department's emergency medical system is falling short. there should be 14 paramedic units on the streets 24 hours a day seven days a week, but that rarely happens. to offset the shortage the department is having firefighters cross-trained as paramedics to fill the void and that isn't always enough. >> you shouldn't have these problems in the nation's

capital. >> this d.c. fire department paramedic agreed to talk to fox 5, but only if we disguise the voice and appearance because of fears over retaliation for speaking out. >> somebody is going to die. >> so many firefighters are quitting sources within the fire department claim the city is now short as many as 100 paramedics. >> it's going to crash. everybody knows it. we all talk about it. it's just going to crash and i feel bad because there's no predicting who is going to be in its way. >> reporter: in august when marie bates called 911 from her home in southeast suffering from chest pains, a paramedic engine from georgetown responded because there were no other units available. the response time? 20 minutes, more than twice what it should be. >> they told me that first they were coming. then they said they were uptown. then they couldn't get through. >> reporter: she finally made it to the hospital and got treated but wonders if she'll

be so lucky next time. >> people could be on their deathbed because i was in a lot of pain. >> reporter: d.c. fire chief kenneth ellerbe denies there's a problem. >> we do have the capacity to hold folks over to reduce our overtime but also to make sure that we are fully staffed to make sure that we can respond to the needs of the community. >> reporter: in order to keep up the paramedic we interviewed and the union claim medics are often being held over by as much as 12 hours past the end of the shift. sometimes that means they're working 24 or 36 hours straight. >> there aren't enough paramedics in the system. we do need to increase in units. >> reporter: even if they're tired or sick, they have no choice but to stay. >> you can't go home. you will be put on charges which are disciplinary action even if you don't feel up to it. >> reporter: in a followup interview chief ellerbe declined to talk about the risk to public safety and instead had the department's medical director respond. we asked numerous times if

patients were in danger. >> we provide good care for our patients. >> reporter: you provide good care even though you've got a paramedic in might be working 36 hours responding to them? >> you look at our patient care, where i come from has a lot of experience in other lands. i can tell you we provide really, really good patient care. >> reporter: to reduce the impact of not hiring more paramedics, chief ellerbe plans to create power shifts to put more medic units on during peak hours in the day and evenings and reduce those during slower overnight periods. >> that will allow us to put from 25 to 45 units on the street, particularly during our heaviest call volume hours. >> we have huge concerns over that 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. block that there will be not any paramedic transmit units. it's a 36% decrease in our capability to transport patients to the hospital. >> reporter: if there aren't enough ambulances, d.c. also

has firefighters cross-trained as paramedics, but using fire trucks to respond to medical emergencies is more costly and has flaws. >> hopefully there's no fires during the same time. >> reporter: just a few years ago d.c. shelled out $7,000 hiring bonuses to recruit experienced paramedics, an attempt to boost the ranks to 350. today it's not even close. >> if we all get through it and nobody will get hurt because the system is failing. >> reporter: d.c. paramedics say they'll continue to answer the call but worry how much more they can handle. >> the department is training a new class of firefighters, but none are paramedics and the union says no paramedic training classes are scheduled. coming up skins coach mike shanahan is raising some eyebrows with comments he made after yesterday's loss to the panthers. >> plus a brand-new scam in the

wake of hurricane screen sandy, how local con art tests are exploiting residents' -- artists are exploiting residents' power problems and trying to rip you off. we'll have more on that.   >> this fox 5 stock market report is brought to you by your lexus dealer. live life heroically. pamela howze: it just seems s le such an... infringement on our lives.

how dare they step into my life that way. it's none of their business. he's trying to restrict us, again. he's taking us backwards. george allen is the last thing we need in washington. anncr: the democratic senatorial campaign committee is... responsible for the content of this advertising.

maryland, it's time. time for marriage equality. question 6 strengthens protections for our churches and guarantees the civil right to commit to the one you love. while there are those trying to divide us, presidents obama and clinton stand with us. pastors, business leaders, newspapers, democrats and republicans are all coming together for question 6. because it's about fairness-- treating everyone equal under the law. and who could be against that?

the zoo where a toddler fell into an exhibit and was mauled to death by wild dogs met all safety standards. the 2-year-old died at a pittsburgh zoo sunday when he fell 14 feet into the den of african painted dogs. 11 of the animals attacked and mauled him while staffers struggled to get the animals away from the boy. >> the keeps are tried everything they could do. they responded immediately when they were alerted to the fact a child was in the yard. they were able to get several of the dogs into the backup

building. the veterinarians arrived and tried to scare the dogs away from the young child with darts and were unsuccessful in doing that. >> staffers eventually got all the dogs away from the child exempt for one they had to shoot -- except for one they had to shoot. the boy fell after his mother put him on the railing at the edge of the viewing deck above the den. officers searching an anne arundel house for drugs found a whole lot more, a 3-foot american alligator and it is illegal to keep those animals on private property. in addition to seizing the animal, agents found 159 grams of pot worth more than $3,100 in the street. they found drug paraphernalia and $800 in cash and other unknown drugs. they arrested michael golden and charged him with intent to distribute marijuana. hours away from the polls opening, tonight on the news edge we're talking to an undecided voter who finally made up her mind. >> we have a checklist to make sure you're ready when you head to the polls tomorrow.

our election coverage continues at 11:00. ♪

♪ we're lucky, it's not every day you find a companion as loyal as a subaru. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

in maryland potomac edison says fewer than 20% of customers in garrett county are still without power a week after sandy dumped up to 2 1/2 feet of snow in the western part of the state. the utility expects to have nearly all garrett customers back online by tuesday night at midnight. the lights may be back on in northern virginia, but scam artists are trying to take advantage of unsuspecting homeowners. one great falls family called police today after getting phone calls allegedly from a local utility demanding money to help them avoid an explosion from a hurricane-related power surge. fox 5's karen gray houston has the story you will see only on fox 5. >> reporter: the lights have been back on for days at the camacho family home in great falls, so imagine their surprise when they got a call in the early afternoon from a man who said he was with dominion virginia power informing them they had a problem. >> they claimed that there was

a power surge after the hurricane came through. it affected our equipment including the circuit breaker. >> reporter: and that there was imminent cause for concern because there could be an explosion or house fire. >> they said that it needed to be taken care of immediately and they could have a truck over within 10 to 15 minutes. >> reporter: hall lives at the house with three younger siblings and his parents. they were in the dark for a while during hurricane sandy, but the story about an emergency need about the dominion crew sounded suspicious, especially when the caller asked for money, $300. so the camachos called back and a woman claiming to be the secretary answered. >> she said that she could work with us and reduce the price to $200. >> reporter: what confused them was that the callers had their utility account number and knew the names of people who live at the house and then at 3:15 there was another call asking if they had the money. by then the camachos had called police. >> it was pretty sick.

the way they try to con people after a storm. >> reporter: dominion says they did exactly what they should have. >> we would never ask for money from you in advance and the work that we do to maintain our electric service to your home is never anything that we would charge above and beyond your electric utility by. >> reporter: dominion said they haven't heard about similar cons since sandy, but a word to the wise. >> don't allow yourself to be a victim. >> reporter: in great falls, virginia, karen gray houston, fox 5 news. not a bad day today. in fact, it was very, very nice, but i know a lot of folks wonder what it's going to be like when they head out to the polls tomorrow. >> chilly, frosty, possibly some areas only in the 20s in the morning. we got a freeze warning tonight but mostly a really nice day here. it's about 10 degrees colder than we should be, but it will be a dry sunny day and not very windy either, so no excuses not to get out there and do your

thing. i'm so glad maryland has that early voting, one thing off my list for tomorrow. we'll get you started with the weather headlines because there is a lot to keep track of. it's going to be cold tonight. you're probably feeling it already. the freeze warning overnight is the last one that gets issued for the year because the growing season is considered to be finished. chilly but dry day election cro- atlantic. the nor'easter we've been talking about since last week will begin making its move tomorrow night into wednesday, but it's really wednesday night that here in the mid-atlantic as well as new jersey and new york and into new england needs to watch it. that's when we think it might phase with another piece of energy to become a stronger storm, talk more about that in a moment. by the way, are we going to get precipitation here from the nor'easter? it depends how far to the east that track is. if it's closer to the coast, we could get a mix of rain and snow here wednesday night.

if it's farther out to sea, there's always a real sharp gradient on the west side of a nor'easter and we might not see that much, maybe east of 95 or on the delmarva potentially. we'll look at that, too. freeze warning are in effect from midnight till 9 a.m. it includes much of the metro area. the only reason you're not in it in places like winchester, woodstock is because the growing season is technically considered over there. look at these temperatures already. frederick is already down to 28 degrees. i was noticing atlantic city 31, new york city 37. washington 41, annapolis 43 but lots of 30s, many places headed for the 20s. here's where we expect to bottom out tonight, mid-20s for martinsburg, hagerstown and frederick. in d.c. 34 degrees. about the nor'easter, we'll have a sunny day here tomorrow, but here comes part one and this will travel to the coast. it will be rain for florida,

georgia, south carolina for the voting day. this is another piece of energy that will also be traveling toward the coast and we believe those two are going to get together somewhere off the mid- atlantic and make for our stronger storm system. a snapshot of the country for tomorrow, no real voting issues in the southwest, maybe a couple showers in the pacific northwest. we'll have to watch wisconsin and minnesota. there could be rain or snow showers up there. chilly much of the mid-atlantic to the gulf coast and here comes our nor'easter moving over to the coast, not quite a nor easter yet, just a coastal area of low pressure beginning its development phase. want you to see as we look at the coast again for wednesday night, these are the effects we're expecting, 40 to 50 or 60 mile-per-hour gusts wednesday night, certainly high wave beach erosion possible, coastal flooding and maybe 1 to 3 inches of rain along the coast. give you an idea of some of our high tides we're expecting for ocean city, 1:18 wednesday afternoon, atlantic city 1:01, long beach new york, 1:36 and

montauk, new york, 1:18 on wednesday and they'll have to watch the thursday morning tide as well. last thing, we get through election day dry, clouds by 9:00 tomorrow night. here comes our storm system. notice now we've got it off the coast, but it's trying to throw back a little rain/snow mix here wednesday afternoon. that was not showing up earlier today. so we may have a mix of that going on if the storm tracks in this position. some of the other models have it a little farther out to sea. either way it would be out of here thursday and it looks like a pattern change is coming. let's check it out on our fox 5 accuweather seven-day forecast because yes, it's been cold and we are going to stay in the 40s for the next three days. we get through tomorrow dry. we'll watch wednesday afternoon into thursday morning for a chance of precipitation, maybe a rain/snow mix, but a little warmer for the weekend, 60s, maybe mid-60s, perhaps even some upper 60s are doable. we're not done with the 60s yet even though it has been considerably below normal for a

number of days now. >> looking forward to the warm- up. if history is any judge, yesterday's loss by the redskins could mean a shakeup in the white house. the skins have historically been a reliable predictor who wins on election day. in 17 of the past 18 presidential elections going back 60 plus years if the redskins win their final home game before voting, the incumbent party wins the white house. if the skins lose, the challenger goes on to win. as we know, the skins lost to carolina yesterday. fox 5 sports director scott smith joins us to explain why this happens 94.8% of the time. i'm just joking, put you on the spot. >> yesterday was the team's third consecutive loss dropping their record to 3-6 on the season, but it was mike shanahan's comments following the game that actually overshadowed the game itself. the head coach said his team would now be playing to see who is going to be on the team for years to come, a comment many interpreted as somewhat of a concession to the rest of the

season. shanahan came out today and said that's not the message he intended. he has not given up on the season. yesterday's 21-13 loss to carolina was a significant blow to the redskins playoff chances however. it was a game shanahan said last week was a must win. he will now use the bye week to evaluate where his squad stands in the hopes a better effort comes forth in the final seven games of the year treating each one as a playoff game and not a tryout for young players as some had inferred. >> you're going to find which guys really step up now the remainder of the seven games. you'll find out if you got guys that are going to give everything. i don't care if they're a five year player, 10 year player, first year player. when your backs are against the wall, how do you stand up with adversity? i would never say we're going to play young. i never said that any time since i've been here, we're going to play young players. we're always going to play the people that give us the best

chance to win. >> shanahan also said they were going to evaluate the coaches and schemes and there will be no changes to his staff. the skins resume in two weeks, a home game against the eagles the 18th and i'll work on that formula as to why that works out in the political race, brian, back to you. coming up next a hiker stranded on a mountain for days, the stroke of luck that led to his rescue. charlie rose: will you endorse president obama?

colin powell: yes. when he took over we were in one of the... worst recessions we had seen in recent times... close to a depression. and i saw, over the next several years, stabilization... come back in the financial community. housing is starting to pick up. the president saved the auto industry. and the actions he's taken with respect to... protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. and so, i think we ought to keep on the track that we are on. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

a young man went for a hike in the utah mountains last week but got lost and stuck on a cliff. he went several days without water. then over the weekend a father and son hiking on mount olympus on the trail there heard the man screaming for help. >> he was really frantic. he was almost like crying, yelling for help. >> they called 911. emergency crews eventually found the stranded hiker.